The beginning of hybrid cars goes back to the 20th century. The Paris Exposition of 1900 included the Lohner-Porsche Elektromobil which is the first ever hybrid car. The inventor of the Lohner-Porsche Elektromobil was a 23 year old engineer named Ferdinand Porsche. Porsche is known today for his Volkswagen cars and for the famous sport cars designed by his son. He created a vehicle that could travel 38 miles on electricity alone. Porsche partnered with Jacob Lohner who wanted to develop motorcars that had incorporated coaches. The gas-powered cars at that time were very noisy and difficult to start. Porsche created battery-powered electric motors and put them in the front-wheel hubs to produce a front-wheel drive car. He also added an internal combustion gasoline engine so the batteries in the car could be charged. Sadly, the Lohner-Porsche could only reach up to 35 miles an hour. The idea of hybrid cars decreased during the years of growth in the modern automobile industry. This period brought a national highway system in the United States and gasoline was inexpensive. The concerns with auto emissions brought back the idea of hybrid cars. C. Russell Feldman, one of the founders of Motorola, decided to explore the possibilities of hybrid cars again. He contacted an electrical engineer named Victor Wouk to see if a hybrid car could work in society. Wouk found out that the batteries in the hybrid cars did not have the energy to produce a lot of speed and range. In the 1960’s, Wouk combined the low-emissions benefit of an electric car with the power and range of a gasoline engine to create a hybrid car. To make his hybrid car ideas real, Victor Wouk and his partner Charles Rosen formed the company called the Petro-E...
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...otor. The Audi Duo was not a success and was discontinued soon after. Then Honda released the two-door Insight which was the first ever hybrid car to hit the mass market in the United States. The Insight received an EPA mileage reading of 61 mpg city and a 70 mpg highway. Following up the Honda Insight, Toyota released the Toyota Prius which was the first ever hybrid four-door sedan in the United States. In 2002, Honda produced the Honda Civic Hybrid that is identical to the conventional Civic. Toyota also introduced the Toyota Prius II. It won the 2004 Car of the Year from the Motor Trend Magazine and the North American Auto Show. Toyota produced between 36,000 to 47,000 Toyota Prius II in the United States. As the years have gone by, the popularity of the hybrid cars have gone up and more people are deciding to buy a hybrid car than a gasoline car.
...about 300 miles (compared to the 70 miles of the first-generation EV1) . Environmentally, US air quality is worse than it was 20 years ago, and consumers have begun to notice. This will likely contribute to an increased demand for zero- and low-emissions vehicles. Legislation has once again been introduced providing tax incentives, rebates, and even free parking for purchasers of hybrid and electric vehicles. By 2005, over 200,000 hybrid vehicle rebates were cashed in the US, and this number continues to rise .
The Automotive, or electric car industry particularly, comprises all those companies and activities involved in the manufacture of electric motor vehicles (EV), including most components, such as engines, bodies and rechargeable batteries or another energy storage device. The industry’s principal products are passenger automobiles. Despite the fact that the first electric cars were produced in 1880s , the advances in internal combustion engines, especially the electric starter, soon diminished the relative advantages of the electric car and became the dominant design in the market. Due to this the EV was almost a forgotten industry staying in the early stage of development, conforming to less than 1% of the automotive stock
Starting in the late 1700's, European engineers began tinkering with motor powered vehicles. Steam, combustion, and electrical motors had all been attempted by the mid 1800's. By the 1900's, it was uncertain which type of engine would power the automobile. At first, the electric car was the most popular, but at the time a battery did not exist that would allow a car to move with much speed or over a long distance. Even though some of the earlier speed records were set by electric cars, they did not stay in production past the first decade of the 20th century. The steam-driven automobile lasted into 1920's. However, the price on steam powered engines, either to build or maintain was incomparable to the gas powered engines. Not only was the price a problem, but the risk of a boiler explosion also kept the steam engine from becoming popular. The combustion engine continually beat out the competition, and the early American automobile pioneers like Ransom E. Olds and Henry Ford built reliable combustion engines, rejecting the ideas of steam or electrical power from the start.
The world of technology is ever changing and advancing. With the automotive industry in play technology is constantly surpassing what is available today with what can be done for tomorrow. Technology and the automotive industry go hand in hand with constant improvement to components of cars. Due to technology advancement there is competition within the car industry, especially between American car companies and European car companies. European car companies provide their buyers with innovative variety and revolutionary luxuries. European car technology is superior to American car technology due to their safety, entertainment, and luxury features.
There are 3 popular hybrids on the market today which are the Honda Insight coupe, Toyota Prius four door hatchback and the Honda Civic hybrid Sedan. There are 6 new hybrid models on the way to the market which will give families a larger selection to choose from. These cars will allow consumers to save on gas. The consumer gets more miles per gallon with the Hybrid car. These cars can go 600 miles before having to refuel with gasoline which will decrease the amount of money that the consumer will have to pay for filling the gas tank. Also, these cars produce about 90 percent fewer smog-forming tailpipe emissions compared with the average new car, according to Dave Hermance, head of Environmental Engineering for Toyota. Purchasing these cars will also allow the consumer to receive a tax break of $1,500. The price of these cars are no...
Starting in the late 1700’s, European engineers began messing with motor powered vehicles. By the mid 1800’s, steam, combustion, and electrical motors had all been attempted. By the 1900’s it wasn’t very clear on which type of engine would really power the automobile. At that time, electric cars were the most popular but there were no batteries at that time that would allow a car to move very fast or a long distance. Commercial production in the United States began at the beginning of the 1900’s. In the early 1900’s, the United States had about two thousand firms producing one or more cars.
By the early 1900’s, automobiles had become a common sight on the roads of the United States. Edison tried to create an electric battery that could power an electric car. Due to the abundant availability of gasoline, the electric car did not receive the response that Edison hoped for. However, the car battery was a huge success, and still plays a pivotal role in the automobile industry.
When the 1970s rolled around and the oil crisis struck, gas prices rose tremendously and people were very concerned about the dependency for oil and the idea of hybrid cars once again came up. The main financial support came from the U.S. Department of Energy, with a few automobile companies also investing some money. By the early 1990s Volkswagen was the only automaker that considered marketing a hybrid vehicle, only in Europe though. 1993 sparked a major event for the advancement of hybrid cars. The Department of Energy signed a five-year $138 million development agreement with General Motors and a $122 million agreement with Ford to design and build preproduction hybrid prototypes that could be marketed in less than 10 years. Four years later brought about a new generation of hybrid vehicles with the introduction of the Toyota Prius (Sperling, p. 101).
Most American cars are not hybrids or fuel-efficient, they are usually big SUV’s or trucks that get eighteen to ten miles per gallon. Most of Hondas, Toyotas, and Hyundai’s get around 20 to 30 miles per gallon, and hybrids get 50 miles per gallon. Peoples demand fuel-efficient cars because oil is i...
Hybrid cars use both gas and electric. The gasoline engine is the primary source of power, while the electric motor is used at low speeds. Emissions levels are reduced because the gasoline engine shuts off at low speeds. An additional benefit of the parallel configuration is that no outside source of electric power is required because the engine itself generates the required electricity. A Hybrid Electric Vehicle known as HEV have several advantages over traditional internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles: Regenerative braking capability, which helps minimize the energy lost when driving. Engine is sized to average load, not peak load, which reduces the weight of the engine. Fuel efficiency is greatly increased, while emissions are greatly decreased. HEVs can be operated using alternative fuels; therefore they need not be depended on fossil fuels (http://www.ott.doe.gov/hev/what.html#hev). Another great thing about these machines is the mpg; on the average, a hybrid car gets anywhere from 55-70mpg on the hwy. This is what makes the car all worth having. Now all this sounds good, but there are some issues that must be addressed.
After all the Honda Civic ranks as the best selling compact car in America. Why wouldn't it be? Being affordable, reliable, durable, safe, economical, compact and sporty, with low insurance rates, and not to mention achieving great gas mileage makes this car the best. This car has everything I look for when buying a new car and more.
With continued success in innovation and production of hybrid vehicles, combined with licensing agreements with other manufacturers, increased government emissions regulations, and a complete integrated marketing campaign, hybrid vehicles will take a strong hold of the U.S. market. Toyota is well positioned to become the global standard in hybrid electric vehicles. With its reputation as the market leader in this category Toyota is in an auspicious position and could soon reach its goal of becoming the number one auto manufacturer in the world.
Today, people use their own personal vehicles to travel more than ever before. Personal transportation is no longer considered a luxury; it is now considered a necessity. The number of cars in the United States has been growing steadily since the 1970s. The number of miles traveled by cars has risen nearly 150 percent, yet the United States population has only grown roughly 40 percent during that time (hybridcars.com, Driving Trends). Although it may seem like we are advancing into the future, in reality, we are moving backwards from the effects these vehicles have on our bodies and the environment. The pollution produced by these vehicles has brought us to the day where we must find other modes of transportation that cause less harm to the world in which we live. Advances in technology have developed hybrid vehicles to try and slow down the amount of pollution. Driving a hybrid vehicle, instead of a conventional gas powered vehicle, can reduce the amount of pollution that affects our lives and the environment around us.
First of all, Toyota has been very successful in differentiating on the basis of superior design and quality. This has led to Toyota being able to create a brand image that is very strong and one that brings to mind quality, long lasting cars when a potential customer sees it. The strength of Toyota’s brand image has been seen in recent years with the recalls and problems Toyota faced in dealing with these recalls. Toyota was able to survive these problems because they had such a long and proven track record of quality and superior. Another, area that Toyota differentiates is in technology. Toyota was the first successful mass produce the hybrid car on the market when it released the Prius in 2003. Being the first to get their hybrid on the market allowed Toyota to gain a large portion of the market share in the area of hybrid
Vehicles in this day and time are nothing like what they used to be. Over half of the car manufacturers are now trying to build new cars and trucks to be as fuel efficient as they can be. Although hybrids conserve more gas than standard vehicles do, they use gas, also. Hybrids do not use as much gas as the ol...